


five and zero.

by dustontheshelf



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Found Family, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Other, all lowercase, i started this four hours ago and havent reread it, love these boys, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29514345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustontheshelf/pseuds/dustontheshelf
Summary: travelling in wild’s era, despite all the times they've complained about it, isn’t always absolute torture.aka five times wild's hyrule was a welcome grace and zero times it wasn't because this is an appreciation fic
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 107





	1. one: the lanayru wetlands

**Author's Note:**

> no warnings for this first chapter, i dont think! enjoy the beginning of the second lu fic ive written in two days.

legend had about _had_ it with how unbearably hot and dry the air in this place was. inside the dungeon of the volcano had been worse, sure, but the hot air trapped within the confines of the rock, seeping off the walls in tortuous waves of heat? legend would _really_ rather not. the heat here, muggy and thick without the humidity, hits the party in the face every single time they move through a doorway. it was ages less than pleasant and legend may not be burning alive but he was still way too hot to be even a degree (hah!) close to comfortable.

in fact, everyone seemed to be having just as much trouble as he, if not _more_.

time himself looks like he was being cooked alive in his armour and legend doesn’t know _how_ he’s managed to be this adamant on not taking it off. they get it, old man, you’re weird and don’t like taking your armour off, but the skin on time’s arms that stays close to the armour looks red with heat and legend isn’t sure that’s exactly a _good_ thing. maybe time _is_ actually burning. 

thinking of burns, he wonders vaguely if twilight has a farmers tan. 

thinking of _twilight,_ twilight had moved his pelt to circle high just over his hips after he’d started sweating the fur on the piece down onto his neck. legend grimaces at the idea of fur sticking to the back of his neck and holding more heat down onto his shoulders. he already felt like the heat was weighing him down, gods forbid he had something like that on _his_ shoulders to deal with in this heat. he watches for a few moments as twilight starts unhooking some metal off his body and _oh,_ that’s smart. the metal on the straps some of the group wears would probably burn skin, huh.

meanwhile, he envies wind, four, and hyrule, who are huddled around an ice rod legend had produced from his bag for them. they’re small as hell and four was _definitely_ a bit sick from the heat already anyway, so legend _guesses_ they could borrow it. they looked to be doing the worse off earlier, and legend isn’t actually sure if any of them have heat resisting items or not, but it’s a bit too late for that now considering they already have the rod.

wild had switched his earrings and donned a pair of pants? shorts? that he’d said were gerudo and seemed fine so far, so that was at least one person that didn’t look ten seconds from catching on fire. legend hasn’t been in wild’s desert yet, but if the rest of the champion’s hyrule is to go by it’s going to fucking _suck_. wild’s hyrule is all sorts of extreme, and legend definitely doesn’t look forward to the day he ends up in his desert.

legend himself didn’t think he was going to die from this. in fact, he _knew_ he wouldn’t, but he’s starting to feel a bit heavy and he’d long since started dragging his feet against the rock under him in silent retaliation against noone. he’d think his vision was warping if it weren’t for the fact he can safely say it’s just the waves of heat hovering and shifting through the crepid air.

his hair is plastered against his forehead, cheeks, and the back of his neck, sweat dripping uncomfortably down his neck and past his tunic’s neckline. he _hates_ the feeling of his hair as it decides to make home against his neck and the sides of his face. legend veers just on the side of claustrophobic as he becomes increasingly aware of the way his hair twists around the sides of his neck and drags across his skin every time he moves his head one way or another.

clothes sticking to him he can deal with, but _gods_ does he very much dislike his hair in this moment. he raises his hand to swipe at it for the fifth time in the past five minutes and glares at warriors when he hears him snicker. upon finally looking up from his feet, legend gets full sight of how warriors has turned part of his stupid scarf into a makeshift _headband_.

in retaliation, he grabs the top and drags it down over warrior’s eyes with a grin. warriors squawks, indignant, and raises his hand to grab and pull the scarf down out of his face while using the other to shove at legend. warriors’s hair sticks up everywhere, now, helped along by sweat.

the telltale sound of wild snapping a photo has warriors completely forgetting legend’s crimes and bounding over to wild, demanding he delete it while the rest of the group laugh at varying levels of loudness. wild, grinning, pushes against the captains chest and is barely able to hold his slate just out of reach of the taller man.

_(“not lookin’ so hot now, huh, pretty boy?”_

_“on the contrary, considering where we are.”_

_“that’s not - shut up?”)_

_._

everyone is huddling around the now doused campfire ring that wild had created some hours ago in the corner of their current placement, sheltering from the blistering sun under a small overhang on the volcano’s side. 

wild had been scrolling through his slate after they had continued walking before suddenly remembering that _oh hylia,_ he has the ingredients he needs to make _chilly elixirs_. rather suddenly, and to the rest of the groups confusion, he had immediately stopped in the middle of the trek and taken some sticks out, shoved them into a pile, and created a fire.

four had looked at him like he was crazy _(“why are you making a fire in the middle of a volcano?”)_ and the others had held the same sentiment, some even stepping back from the flame and glaring it for providing heat. wild, ignoring them in favour of hurry and focus, had started pulling out ingredients and tossing them into the pot, at which point twilight smacked a fist into his open palm and exclaimed, “elixirs!” when he realized what wild was doing.

after handing them out, they’d decided to take a break in this area anyway, as they’d been traveling all day and probably wouldn’t make it anywhere near the exit of the volcano. it was cooler at night, and as such, they hunkered down for the rest of the afternoon in the shade. better to travel when it’s cooler in the first place, and legend agrees whole heartedly. wild makes extra elixirs for the night walk, just in case, and then gets started on an early dinner.

legend sits next to him, unwary of the fire, scrolling through the images on the slate that wild had manage to capture. (he’s not that assholish that he wouldn’t listen to wild when he stays to stay close to him with it.) he motions hyrule over at some point, who drags twilight along, and shows the two the photograph wild took of warriors earlier.

_(the photo itself captures the moment the captain had shoved legend, a hand fisted in his scarf that he’d tugged down, and legend, laughing at his expense.)_

.

the next few days in the area don’t end up being any different than the first few and they finally manage to clear out the corrupted monsters in the volcano. it wasn't exactly easy, but it was nothing more than a potion couldn’t fix! at least until it came back to the heat problem.

by early morning they’re all tired and sluggish with the heat that continues to wear them thin. legend feels like he’s laying in a pool of sweat and _really_ wants to take a bath to change his clothes. while he’s not as worried about it as, say, _warriors_ is, he still knows when enough is enough - and enough was enough two days ago, when they first encountered corrupted monsters and had to fight them over a pit of fucking _lava._

legend’s head is practically swimming in heat induced nausea and possible bucket of sweat at this point, the heat raising irritation from under his skin. his sour mood doesn’t help morale _at all,_ and eventually the others decide to leave him alone until he cools down (hardy har, wild). 

glaring at the ground, he raises a hand to swipe at his face (again). he shoves his bangs over the top of his head and back, slicking it with sweat accidentally. he grumbles at the blazing heat that still wafts up from the level below. didn’t these people know heat _rises_ ? why are they still walking _up_ the mountain?

and soon the reason doesn’t matter, because a portal shows itself as they round a corner of the volcano. legend is more than glad to see it, only wanting to get out of the blistering heat, and everyone quickly grabs a partner to walk through with.

legend quietly attaches himself to sky’s side and off they go.

.

on the other side, legend is _smacked_ with a wave of rain and cool air that settles into his skin _so_ nicely after the volcano exploration. he breathes in, the air so much more crisp and, thankfully, much less heat-heavy. the hero can practically feel his irritation wash away with the rain soaking him, just as much as it washes soot and ash off of him. he steps down from the rock they’d walked out of the portal onto and down into the shallow wetland water to let others through without his being in the way. 

he spots wild just as the champion raises his arms, stretching his palms up to his hyrule’s sky, a slight smile on his face as he lifts himself onto his toes. he looks like a cat, legend decides, that’s stretching after a long curled up nap. legend leaves him be, turning his gaze to eye for any monsters around while the others step through. he deems it clear enough, for now. it’s wild’s hyrule, after all, so there’s usually monsters lurking _somewhere._

he squats down a few steps out from the rock they’d been placed on and shoves his hands down into the water, uncaring of how gross the water may be, and hums at the cool sensation of small waves of water rippling over his wrists.

behind legend, wild grins and moves his warms into a wide ‘v’ as time, the last of the party, finally steps through. he turns towards the group and exclaims, “my hyrule!” just as time’s armour hisses in the cool air. steam rises as the cool torrent of rain splashes down on the metal that had been housing heat for the past week and a wave of laugher legend is too settled to join in on echoes in the air.

_(still tired, bones now starting to ache from the temperature fluctuations, and only half paying attention to them after cooling down, mentally and physically, legend is just enjoying his time soaking his hands in the water._

_and legend, safely positioned behind wild, snickers quietly at the slate’s camera view that he spots over wild’s shoulder.)_

.

some half hour later, legend is sitting on the same rock platform they’d been on since they’d arrived here, his feet in the water as the rain pours, now lighter than before, over them all.

“at least it isn’t a lightning storm,” wild hums and legend twists his head to look at wild, his eyes leaving the scene of wind, four, and hyrule all laying in the shallow water in front of them. legend doesn’t even _want_ to think about the lighting storms here _._ and now? surrounded by water, it sounds like a horrible mess to get caught up in. (it is, and legend knows this.)

then a grin stretches onto wild’s face, full of glee and excitement. legend balks at the kid, who’s now running into the water as well, who just unceremoniously dropped his sword and shield next to legend and tossed his slate in legends face to catch. legend sputters, staring down at the slate in his hands that he was tossed to hold onto. twilight chuckles and pats legend on the shoulder.

  
  
_(“im not an - an item check!!” he grouses, but he’s already shuffling wild’s items closer and stuffing the slate against his stomach to shield from the rain anyway. sky innocently raises his head at the mention of an item check and peers over at legend._

_“don’t you have a million items in your storage, though?” and legend stares at him and then down at his lap. fuck. he’s got a_ really _good point there.)_

legend looks up just in time to watch as wild jumps in the water next to wind, splashing it into the kid’s face purposefully, eyes lit with mischievous happiness. he can’t help but grin at the undignified screeching that escapes wild’s mouth when hyrule grabs the champion’s boot and _yanks_ , the action sending the other kid sprawling face first into the shallow water. wind exaggerates a cry of thanks towards hyrule, throwing his arms around his friends shoulders and yelling something about pride.

so busy with themselves and laughing at wild, the two miss as four’s eyes flash in playful mirth. they’re both dunked within seconds, and four is left to scramble away as the two round on him next, squawking about revenge.

_(the newest additions to wild’s slate is that of seven links laughing at each other, steam wafting off of their bodies as they’re cooled by rain, and an inexperienced, shaky photo of wild, wind, hyrule, and four as they mess around in the rain.)_


	2. two: the gerudo desert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the oasis sits so innocently in the middle of the desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no warnings for this chapter either! isn't that nice?

the oasis sits so innocently in the middle of the desert, out of place among the sandy hills and vast nothing of the desert. there are cool sets of breezes that don’t quite feel like they belong in the desert that drift from over the water and hit the party in the face. with the breezes comes the collective sigh of relief from nine heroes.

after a beat of silence, wild spreads his arms wide, smiles, and shouts, “we’re taking a break here!” without any room for negotiation or input from any of the others. wild knows they’d been in this hot, stupid desert all day, so sue him for deciding on an impromptu break. it’s the best place for a break, anyway, and this place was hotter than _hell_ and none of them were particularly interested in staying outside the barrier of cool air the oasis offered.

in seconds, everyone’s bags and gear are in a pile under a short hanging tree with enough shade they’re sure nothing will catch fire instantaneously. in the moments that follow there are sounds of splashing as some of the group treads into the welcoming blue water and it’s already too late to tell them to do otherwise. not that anyone would, probably, because even time himself knew that he’d pushed them to keep moving all morning despite the heat bearing down on their shoulders.

time, twilight, and legend among one or two others, maybe, find themselves having to find something to occupy themselves with as the others mess around in the pool of water. legend finds himself sitting under another tree, across the oasis from the other’s belongings (he _refuses_ to babysit all their bags again) and stretches out in the shade of it. legend snorts to himself as he watches wind chuck his shirt off and toss it behind him with no aim, gets to watch it hit and then fall from time’s face as the kid runs towards the water. eventually, though, he grows bored of the nonsense and closes his eyes. might as well enjoy the break while he can, right?

apparently time stands still (the link, not the idea) because when legend finally reopens his eyes time is _still_ standing in the same general direction he was when legend had left the group to walk around the oasis. legend thusly has the extreme pleasure of watching time finally make his way to his own tree, settle down into the shade close to the water, and pull out his whetstone to sharpen his blade on.

legend drags his own bag over to himself to grab a book. warriors is listening to four talk about fuck knows what and eventually, when he glances up from his book, time’s deemed his blade sharp enough. the old man sits on his hunches as he examines it, running his hand down the flat, not sharp side like legend has done so many times with his own items, checking for dents and unnatural bends and chips.

after the heavy hotness of the rest of the desert, a heat that legend is now dealing with fine due to the earring wild pushed into his palm that same morning, the oasis is a welcome commodity. wild revealed that he had gone out of the way during his watch the night before (wind took over for him, it was _fine_ ) and gone to gerudo town to get the group some things before they entered into the desert. legend had paid him back in full for his own earrings already (he’d recharged wild’s magic items. they wouldn’t break for awhile longer, now.)

on their way to gerudo they’d cleared a few camps of displaced monsters that they saw lurking around in the sandy hills. of course there had been infected ones, those of which had taken place among other groups of monsters, scattered and more tediously calculating than the rest. they’d taken them out less than easily, not all of them were used to fighting in the sand.

(four and warriors seemed more than irritated when they’d needed to be pulled out of the sand they’d been sinking into. legend’s snickering had both of them throwing handfuls of sand that never reached their designated target. thank you, wild’s desert, for the very rare, and now awfully convenient, gusts of wind.)

the party of nine had made sure to steer clear of any and all moldugas, too, because those seemed fucking _rank_ to deal with, in legends expert opinion. wild says they aren’t too hard, but then corrects himself and says they’re avoiding them anyways when twilight gives a sidelong look at him. wild stares and then glances at time, who’s already in the process of crossing his arms, when he says bombs are involved in the monster’s demise. twilight turns away and pretends to be shuffling through his bag, a strained and nervous smile on his face. time is wholly unamused at the conversation, and so they steer clear of the big, bad, bomb-eating moldugas for the entire duration of the some hours of desert walk.

so sure, they deserved at least a _little_ time cooling down. speaking of time again, said man eventually tells everyone they might as well camp here for the night instead of getting stranded in the middle of the hot desert to rest. legend snarks, “we _are_ in the middle of the desert,” and gets a few snickers out of the group for it.

it also earns legend the appointment of the task ‘find food for wild to cook’. he makes a show of it, groaning as he picks himself up off the ground, complaining about the heat that hasn’t actually bothered him much since he swapped a topaz earring for sapphire. wild shows him what can and shouldn’t be gathered in this area and they set out to scavenge what they can from the trees and bushes. eventually, they meet back under the shade of a tree - just because they were protected from catching fire doesn’t mean they still can’t feel the dreaded, hot ass sun.

picking a pepper off a bush next to him he starts, “y’kno,” and waits for wild to finish climbing onto the branch of a tree that a bunch of fruit is hanging off of, waits for him to look at legend to show he’s listening, an ear twitching against a leaf. legend finishes the thought with, “your hyrule ain’t that bad.”

in the middle of a desert, maybe, isn’t exactly the place he’d think he’d be admitting as such. somehow though, with how weird and out of sorts the entirety of wild’s hyrule was, it fit perfectly into this moment to say regardless.

wild stares down at him for a minute, something akin to awed surprise on his face, like he’d never heard someone say that before. legend, morbidly, thinks that wild probably _hasn’t._ he assumes it’s also just a bit weird to have _him_ of all people admit as much. sure, he was more than open to joke and shove sarcasm into peoples faces, but he wasn’t incapable of being _nice._

the moment that legend won’t say was a moment is completely ruined when the champion grins and drops down onto legend’s back, pulling a squawk out of him.

hands drag themselves through his hair, ruffling it into a frizzy mess as a silent, far off thank you. if this is what he gets for being nice then no thank you, he wants no more part of it.

.

“you missed a few peppers-” wild cackles. legend’s ear twitches at the breath waving over his skin and the voice talking right into his ear.

thinking of his previous comment about how nice wild’s hyrule was, legend snipes, “you, on the other hand, fucking _suck_.”

wild laughs, a sound of pure unadulterated glee echoing in legend’s ears, and wraps his legs around legend’s hips, forcing him into giving him a piggyback ride. legend gripes about it for all but two minutes, saying something about how heavy wild was.

despite the grumbling, he still never throws wild off his back and heeds wild’s silent commands to stop his wandering when wild tugs at his hair (accidentally, wild swears!) or tunic to pull the occasional fruit from the trees legend hadn’t bothered to climb up into. he hums, more content with the predicament than he dares let on, and finds solace in the fact wild has to cling to him when he bends down to scoop a missed pepper into his arms.

nobody misses the light smile on the vet and champion’s faces as they bicker and gather.

everybody misses when the smile turns into a smirk and legend rolls his shoulders suddenly, displacing the hero on his back enough they fall backwards into a mound of sand. they only manage to catch the scene that follows after the loud ‘thump!’ and legend’s laugh echos through the air.

.

the campfire is almost a nice warmth in the cool night. wild and twilight had procured extra blankets for everyone, just incase it got too cold for comfort. it hadn’t, though, and for that a majority of them were thankful.

_(legend eyeing four, huddled close to the fire and staring at the flames in silence. he glares minutely at the frost on the berries that legend had dragged forward from where he’d dropped them for wild, away from the fire as asked to keep them from cooking because they were too close to the fire. now it was too cold away, and so they’d moved them closer so as they didn’t freeze. wild said he wanted to cook them, so they hadn’t gone in the slate. he doesn’t offer the flame rod he has to four, but he tosses his borrowed blanket to the smithy.)_

the group was in good spirits despite the walking they’d done earlier that day through the desert and the much needed break they’d taken. the chatter slowly dies down along with the fire as the sun sets under the horizon, and a sandstorm in the distance that wild assures isn’t going to come near them rages on. the wind blows at them, ruffling hair and sand into their blankets.

time watches the moon rise in silence as the group drifts off into their own motions and things again, just like he does every late moon in the month. 

sky, who’d woken up only recently from a quick nap he’d taken to reenergize earlier, still looked tired; the poor chosen one had worn his stamina thin and thinner in the desert and was now leaning lightly against wind for support. his bowl of dinner, forgotten in favour of listening to warriors spin some tale, is clutched between both of his hands, the spoon loosely held in place with his thumb. wind doesn’t seem to mind and pushes his cheek against the soft fabric of sky’s sailcloth.

legend lays back on his bedroll, twisting an arm under the back of his head as he stares into the sky, eyeing the rolling clouds and the stars they reveal and cover as they flow. he picks at some fuzz on his blanket absently, his thoughts running quiet in the air.

legend watches as twilight curls up against a log, his back arching against the wood as he drags his makeshift pillow to his chest. the vet stares at twilight’s shoulders until there’s the tell of a deep breath shuddering out of the other’s frame, proving that the shifter had finally fallen asleep. the fur around the man’s shoulders shifts as his breathing moves twilight’s outline up and down. the vet glances over at time, of whom is looking straight at him. he shrugs uncommittedly, glancing back at twilight, and time hums and shifts his head back a bit. he raises his eyebrows.

legend grunts, rolling his eyes, and kicks his blanket back over his legs and goes back to watching the stars.

in the morning they’ll all wake up under the rising sun, hot with sweat from too many layers they’d covered with in the night. legend’ll drop his blankets into his charmed bag and drag himself over to the water to wash off layers of grime and sweat from yesterday and that night.

he’ll burn himself on someone’s sword on accident when he tries to hand it to them and he’ll glare at warriors for laughing at him for it. he’ll laugh back at the man when warrior goes to put on his stupid arm braces and burns his fingers on the metal belt buckles. the others roll their eyes at the two’s antics so early in the morning. 

wild makes sticky rice and fruit for breakfast. legend enjoys it more than he thought he might; it looked weird and shittily textured. it ended up being fine in the end. just like wild’s hyrule, he thinks, and then grimaces at the corny line and the fact he compared a region to _fruit and rice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pog champ for wild's hyrule! the oasis is a nice place.  
> don't ask why they're going /into/ the desert.  
> i couldn't tell you, i'm not a hero!
> 
> also, legend and wild bonding moments? maybe so.

**Author's Note:**

> another alt title: the one where i listened to the gerudo valley smash bros remix until i was done (official plea for help, thank you <3)
> 
> so, that was about four hours of gerudo valley. also, despite this being a fic for wild's hyrule 70% of it is whining about another hyrule that i didn't even decide the owner of! either way, this is just going to be me pinpointing fun little moments for the boys during their travels, in different parts of wild's hyrule. no angst in sight, yet, but that might be subject to change in the future :)?


End file.
